Month: March 2017

Every girl appreciates a good lip balm. EOS lip balms provide excellent protection to keep lips from becoming dry and chapped with their infusions of natural emollients and essential oils. They also contain sunscreens or added protection from the elements and a hint of flavor for an all-around enjoyable lip-smoothing experience.

In 2009, seemingly out of nowhere, these nifty, colorful little orbs began to appear on retail shelves everywhere: Walgreens, Target, Walmart. Ads popped up in Seventeen and Cosmo magazines as well as others, and suddenly, they were turning up in the hands of the most glamorous celebrities like the Kardashians, Selena Gomez, and countless others.

EOS lip balms are available in traditional stick form, however they are best known – and loved – for their popular round case shape. Hydrating ingredients such as Vitamin E, Jojoba Oil, and Shea Butter help EOS lip balms to deliver a wonderfully soft salve to the lips, creating a deep, soothing moisturizing effect.

These awesome little spheres from EOS (an acronym or their maker, Evolution of Smooth) quickly became the second best-selling lip balm in the United States (with Burt’s Bees holding the #1 position), with current sales at one million plus products per week and a projected $2 billion lip care market worldwide by the year 2020. The company’s success is largely due to the increase in popularity of organic products, which EOS specializes in.

EOS lip balms are available in several popular flavors, including:

SUMMER FRUIT: The exotic and fruity fragrance and flavors include peach, strawberry, and blueberry. Chock full of natural moisturizers and good things.

BLUEBERRY ACAI: Naturally flavorful and fragrant with elements of both blueberry and acai fruits and antioxidants for healthy lip

Dick DeVos and his wife Betsy have really put in a lot of work in not only business, but philanthropy and public service and have been one of Michigan’s most well-known education reform activists. The DeVos’s have also given their money to local hospitals, museums, libraries, universities, churches and other special non-profit venues. They’ve never felt it necessary to disclose how much they’ve given over the years, but in light of Betsy DeVos’s nomination to Secretary of Education they finally decided to make the amount known, an estimated $139 million in lifetime giving. That amount is largely exclusive of political campaigns they’ve contributed to over the years.

This company specializes in investments in alternative energy, locally-owned retail shops, clean water bottling and even recently the acquisition of Coppercraft Distillery in Holland, MI. Prior to founding The Windquest Group, Dick worked at his family company, Amway Corporation. This company was co-founded by his father, Richard DeVos Sr. who is also the current owner of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. Dick worked at Amway for over 20 years starting off as a department manager, then later moving up to vice president in 1984 and eventually CEO in 1993. Dick stepped down from Amway and turned the company over to his brother Douglas in 2002.

Dick and Betsy started the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation in 1992 through which most of their giving has been channeled. Their giving has primarily been for scholarship programs to help underprivileged families afford private schools, but they’ve also helped fund charter school aid as well. They have even established a charter school that’s open to the public called the West Michigan Aviation Academy. This school is hosted at the Gerald R. Ford Airport and has a specialized curriculum in aviation and aircraft mechanics.

Dick was a leader of Grand Action Committee, a board of business and civic leaders that led a commercial and entertainment venue building project for downtown Grand Rapids. Dick and Betsy also helped the Kennedy Center complete its Art Institute building project with a donation over $20 million, and the institute was promptly renamed in their honor. Dick and Betsy are staunch Republican Party supporters with Betsy having served as the Michigan Republican Party chairperson, and Dick ran for governor in 2006 though he came up short. They also led the effort that saw right-to-work legislation get passed in 2012. He’s also the author of a 1998 New York Times bestseller on constitutional ideology titled Rediscovering American Values.